Printing/framing panoramic shots

[whickums]

I finally have a panoramic shot that stitched together nicely, and I want to put it up on my wall.  Where can I look for a selection of panoramic frames?  Who prints panoramic pictures?

[Casa Grande]

Panorama prints are hard to come by.  There are several ways it is done. 

The first is printing multiple panoramas on the same large print.  For example, let's say you have four panoramas that have a ratio of 1:3.  This means your panorama print can be blown up to 6in by 18in.  If you put four of these on one print, you would simply order a 24 x 18 print with the 4 panos printed on it.  This method is much more readily available and higher quality.   For this method, I would recommend mpix.com to have them printed.  They do a great job and have several finishes to choose from.

The second method is less common.  This method can print panoramas 6 inches by whatever or 12 inches by whatever.  Meaning, whatever your ratio is, it will print it.  So, you could theoritically have a 1:12 ratio print ( A super panoramic print).  This method is cheaper, but due to the method of printing, the quality is less.   This is because this method uses laser optics making the print slightly less sharp than the previous method.  However, for mounting on a frame on a wall for personal use, this method is very good and inexpensive.  I recommend using ezprints.com for this method.

As far as framing goes, you'll have to get a custom frame made or make one yourself as the varying size of panoramic prints doesn't allow for a standard size.

Make sense? Hope this helps.

[whickums]

Thanks for the info!  I wish it wasn't such a process, though.

[Casa Grande]

what size is your panorama?

[whickums]

I cropped it to a 12x48.  It's actually the one I just posted in the gallery, but some of the left part of the picture won't be included.  I gave ezprints.com a try since it's only like $15 to print the picture.  We'll see if it's of a quality I'm happy with on my wall.

I wasn't totally clear on the first example you mentioned... it sounded like you had to break the pictures up, print them out, then manually put them together unless I just totally didn't understand you.

[RichardM]

I wasn't totally clear on the first example you mentioned... it sounded like you had to break the pictures up, print them out, then manually put them together unless I just totally didn't understand you.

I think his first example was for printing more than one panorama, or maybe multiple copies. After printing you'd have to cut them apart.

[whickums]

Ah- rereading it it makes sense that way now.

[tjavery]

I printed a 12x36 pano some years ago via Ezprints. Turned out very nice.

Hobby Lobby, Michaels, etc. usually have 12x36 frames (i.e. that size is an off-the-shelf size). I've also seen 12x24 frames as well.

[Sotol Vista]

I had my pano printed at Mpix.com, they have great quality prints of all sizes, then waited for Hobby lobby to have a half price sale on a frame, then had a mat custom cut t fit and dry mounted.

James

[Al]

Has anyone tried Sam's?  They have large scale print capability. I've been tempted but haven't tried them, yet.

Al

[Casa Grande]

Large Print capability and Panoramic print capability are two different things.  Panoramic prints either have to be printed in duplicate on a standard size, or as a long single print.  It depends on what type of equipment the lab has.  The latter is printed using a lesser quality "laser" technology.

[Roy]

Kinko's used to do large size prints, but, like CG says, their paper wasn't photo quality.  They've downgraded their operation here  in Corpus, not sure what they may offer in a bigger city.

[whickums]

My pano came in from ezprints today and I'm pretty happy with the way it looks.  I can't wait to find a frame and get this up on my wall!

[TexasAggieHiker]

I got an email from ezprints yesterday that this 12X36 pano had shipped!!!!